Naghi-Tan: It's too bad that there isn't too much on Wolf to use. Maybe he'll appear in a flashback, or something, in Law's POV. : ( Both of them will be forced to figure it out soon – there's feelings. They just need to swim through them and find the ones that matter most :D
5: Oh, I've Got This Friend
The trip to the bar was awkward. Sanji wondered what Law was thinking of, his face pensive with some thing he had yet to say. But the air felt different – lighter. Like some invisible weight had been lifted, but not removed. It was still present in the air between them, an uncomfortable third presence, but it was fairly obvious that it was for the positive. Sanji snatched glances at him from the corner of his eye; Law sneaked glances through the reflections of the windows they passed. Neither of them had the courage to bring it up, but Sanji thought about the kiss he gave, and Law felt the heat and weight of it lingering on his skin.
The business sign attached to the door told customers that the place was closed, but Jean Bart was behind the counter, with Penguin and Shachi sitting in front of him. Law slowed his step because Jean Bart was shrugging at him with a frown, and there were too many empty bottles on the counter.
Sanji thought something was off as he closed the door firmly behind him. He glanced about – the usual ghosts of the past were silently watching him as he entered. He wore an expression of discomfort at the weight of their stares – they never asked anything from him. Just seemed to stare at him like he were a ghost himself.
He focused towards the men at the counter, looking over expectant faces that never gave away expressions or breath.
"They took your advice," Jean Bart told Law as he approached. Law lifted his eyebrows as Sanji lingered back, cautiously putting space between himself and the group. There were tables with upside down chairs on top of them that gave him a wall of safety. He chose to lean against one brick wall, arms crossed over his chest to combat the AC chill in the air. "And their way of coping is excessive alcohol."
Do they really need an excuse to drink? Sanji thought cynically.
Law leaned up against the counter with one hip while he observed the pair. Penguin had a jean vest on over a plain brown t-shirt over flared jeans, his thick black hair side-swiping his face in a brim-like feature that nearly covered the upper half of his face; Shachi's tie-dye poncho over corduroys and cowboy boots were accompanied with newly feathered hair and glasses with big, square frames.
"You both look like the fucking hippies I met years ago," Law commented with thinly disguised disgust.
The pair looked at him with annoyed scowls.
"I'm not the stupid hippie, Trafalgar," Penguin snapped at him. His voice was edgier, heavy with thinly held anger. Law remembered his time served in a thankless war; the reason behind his loosely flung fists.
Shachi flashed them the peace sign. His effort to avoid the draft had been a run to Canada. "Make love, not war."
"I still got all this shit going on in my head," Penguin murmured with a scowl. "My head hurts."
"Marijuana isn't what it used to be," Shachi said wistfully.
"Is it the appropriate time for this?" Jean Bart asked idly.
"I didn't say you had to do this right away," Law said before Penguin hit the counter with one fist.
"Yeah, but I got sick of the guilt shit you kept laying on us every chance you got!"
"I have a bad craving for a Moonpie," Shachi said with a sigh. "Several of them. Preferably in succession…"
Law took in their moods. Both of them were deeply familiar to him – they were his friends, this was the state he'd met them. Every interaction he had with them came back like a remembered habit, but he had trouble accepting that they'd do this now. He had been positive the pair wouldn't have taken his suggestion literally.
As different as they were from the forms he'd been in the company of recently, he was troubled with the possibilities of failure in their modernized conditioning. He was having such a hard time with it himself – with Penguin's temper and Shachi's lack of confrontation, he was positive this rebellion was going to harm them in the long run.
He glanced nervously at Sanji, then refocused on them.
"Was anything said about the animal I encountered?"
"This technology shit is stupid," Penguin huffed, leaning on the counter with one elbow, fist propping his stubborn chin. "I can't figure it out."
Law looked at the older man behind the counter. "Jean Bart…reinstate them. Fast."
"No. I'm sick and tired of you telling us what to do all the time," Penguin interrupted Law, sliding off of his stool. He caught sight of Sanji standing nearby, and gestured at him. "Who the fuck is this guy? What's he doing here?"
"Hey, isn't that the waiter, man?" Shachi asked, surprised as he twisted in his stool.
Sanji exhaled heavily, unsure of what to say. Jean Bart fished the keys out from his pockets, leaving the counter. "I will get those boxes…"
"NO!" Penguin and Shachi shouted at him, causing Law to straighten away from the counter.
"Things can be cool," Shachi reassured Law with a slow wave of his hands. His slouchy shoulders and meandering movement looked comical to Sanji, who struggled to repress showing it in his expression. "It's like a whole new world out here. All this Jetson's shit is absolutely fascinating…kinda just bummed there aren't no floating cars, or buildings on stilts."
"I have a vague memory of things that have happened between then and now," Penguin said gruffly, arms crossed over his chest. "But I know I'm sick and tired of living a lie. Just let me be pissed off about it. I'm a fast learner, I'll learn shit real fast all over again."
"I just think that you should reconsider doing this at this time," Law said gently. "Because I didn't come back alone from the forest."
"Oh?" Jean Bart paused just at the end of the counter. "How so?"
"The animal caught a ride here. In me. Sooner or later, its owner will show up."
"You got your little ninja sword, do something about it," Penguin grumbled.
"I thought I did."
"How did you not know that it had?" Jean Bart asked Law pensively. "Surely you'd recognize an animal…"
"I wasn't…I wasn't aware of myself," Law mumbled, blushing ever so faintly.
"I noticed it," Sanji spoke up from the back, tucking his hands into his shorts pockets. "I saw the thing first."
"You got them ghost-seeing eyes, huh?" Shachi asked him with a whistle. "The government ever run any tests on you? Maybe they mutated you, man! Running all them weird tests on you, or sprinkling shit down on you from the sky! That's why you see special shit!"
Sanji stared at him with doubt. "…No."
Law cleared his throat delicately. "Shachi, speaking like that is…looked down upon, lately. It's not…the same."
"I like the look of the babes here, but they're kinda different, y'know?" Shachi then said with a distracted sigh.
"The babes are different," Penguin agreed sullenly. "I don't know if that's good or not…"
"Law, what's a Walmart creature?"
Law looked to Jean Bart with confusion, the bigger man shrugging. "Unfortunately, we went to Walmart."
"They're so aggressive," Shachi whispered.
"It's not like we lost our fucking memories," Penguin continued, combing at his side-swiped hair, "but things are spotty and vague. Like a bad trip. I know how to do stuff, I know why I do them, but it's like I'm looking at myself from someone else's point of view, and can't believe that I did it. None of it is clear."
"Acid," Shachi whispered with delight. Then he frowned. "No acid…"
Penguin turned and pointed at Sanji once more. "Now, I ask again – who the hell is this guy?"
"Long story," Law said gently, forcing his hand down. "For another time."
"I don't like the looks of him. He looks…feminine."
Sanji scowled at him. "Yeah, right, Bieber."
"What'd you say to me?"
Law settled Penguin's riling temper with a hand to the shoulder, patting him. "You were outside, you saw a little of how times have changed. We're the ones that get the odd looks, now," Law assured him.
"Yeah, you look like someone working for the shitty KGB," Penguin then scoffed at him, sitting slowly on the stool.
"Who shot the President? They ever solve that?" Shachi asked with interest. He gasped. "Did we do it?"
"I'd laugh, but I probably would get my ass kicked in the bathroom, later," Sanji said slowly. Jean Bart nodded to agree with him.
Hand squeezing Penguin's shoulder, Law said, "In the hopes that you regain just a section of your memories back, Sanji here can see and hear ghosts. He can make physical contact with them, as they can with him. He's worked with us for the past six months. Thanks to him, it was discovered that the animal had hitched a ride with me back here. Jean Bart, can you check on the layers I'd worn that night out?"
After the older man made his way into the basement, Law faced the others. "We were on the trail of a serial killer – long since gone, his death was presumed within the 1920's. He took his own life in a haunted forest – we were just there. Our group did not make any contact with him, but we did with his dog."
"We saw the file, we can read," Penguin muttered, refilling his mug. "It's the computers shit I can't really figure out…"
"It was such a cute dog. You could see the intelligence in his eyes," Shachi said sadly.
Law stared at them for a few moments, looking perplexed. Sanji wanted to laugh, so he covered his mouth with one hand to prevent from doing so. There was enough tension in the bar to choke on. He didn't want to draw any sort of negative attention his way – the pair of men that often shouted at him balefully were such strangers in their own standing, it was as if they were handpicked from some time-traveler's journey, deposited here in a modern day bar.
Law then asked, "Where in the hell did you guys get your clothing?"
"Thrift store, man. I saw my closet. I can't wear that shit."
"Prissy shit," Penguin agreed, slamming his alcohol down. "I was never a prissy man, Trafalgar."
None of that stuff was 'prissy', Sanji thought to himself, leaning up against a wall with his arms crossed. These guys are glorified masculine losers.
"When did you make the decision to do this?" Law then asked them. "After we'd returned from our trip? None of you remember what happened that night?"
The pair shrugged.
"This is not helpful," Law muttered. "These things are capable of hurting us, and this one definitely will. Come to your senses. Return your layers for your protection."
Penguin stared up at him. "We've been doing this for some time, Trafalgar. You think we're pussies?"
"Man," Shachi sighed, chin on palm.
"You think we can't handle a little spook here and there? We've done this before without layers. You think we're pussies."
Law sighed. He reached out and poured himself a drink, Sanji looking on with exasperation.
Shitty alcoholics, he thought. All of them.
Jean Bart returned from the basement, carrying a pile of lock boxes. They were loosely closed, so they rattled noisily as he deposited them onto the counter. The trio looked over at them as he opened up a few, watching their reactions. Law set his glass down with a startled look. Reaching in, he pulled up what looked like a burnt piece of paper.
Venturing close, Sanji watched as Jean Bart pulled out other treasured items that their stolen gleams clung to. The boxes themselves had contained the souls that the gleams belonged to – not seeing any reaction to them being opened caused Sanji immense curiosity.
"They're damaged," Law reported, showing Sanji a leather bracelet that looked as if someone held a match to it. "All of them. They're useless. The gleams are gone…"
"What devil did this?" Shachi asked incredulously, holding up a melted guitar pick. "Only Satan and his monsters could do this, right?"
"The only thing that can eat other gleams are demons," Penguin murmured with shock. "And that's to suck the energy right out from them to make themselves stronger…"
"Sounds like something Law would do, actually…"
Shachi looked at Law with suspicious eyes.
"I came back with them, right?" Law asked Jean Bart.
"Yes, they were in the same condition as they normally were when you removed them," the bigger man said with surprise. "There was nothing different about that night. You walked in, declared the animal dead, removed the layers; Penguin stored the audio information on Shachi's laptop, but it was too late to continue the investigation at that point. All of you drank yourselves to oblivion, and we were back on the road the next day. I hadn't noticed any difference to your personality."
"Perhaps it's time to consider a little AA?" Sanji suggested snidely.
"I've beaten men for talking less shit than that," Penguin threatened him.
"If it's on my lap top," Shachi said slowly, face pulled into intense concentration before looking down at his literal lap and gesturing, "then where is it?"
"Jean Bart, please, despite their claims, they will require their layers," Law said with exasperation, hand sweeping up to his hat to clutch the top.
Penguin finished off his drink and slammed down the empty glass. He twisted away from his stool, storming towards the door. "Forget it! I'm not doing that shit, anymore! I'm tired of being treated this way."
"Oh no, Penguin, come back," Shachi said theatrically before sniggering into his cup.
"What is going on, here?" Robin asked, startling both Law and Sanji with her sudden appearance near the bar counter, Luffy looking around himself with a lack of excitement. Penguin slammed his way out the doors, causing them to crack with force on their return.
"A slight setback," Law answered her grimly, unable to see Luffy at the moment.
"Hi, Sanji," Luffy greeted lifelessly, Sanji looking at him with concern.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I just…we passed a lot of restaurants along the way, and everything looked so good…it just sucks I can't eat any of it…"
Sanji frowned at him. Robin slipped a gloved hand atop of Luffy's shoulder. "But it's not to say that we haven't learned a lot, is it?" she asked the boy.
"I mean, I guess," Luffy answered with a shrug. "It just feels like I got it rammed into me that I am actually a ghost. A dead guy."
"Those feelings will fade," Robin assured him without expression, so Luffy looked up at her with a puzzled frown.
After a few moments of consideration, Sanji approached the counter to speak low to Jean Bart. Jean Bart looked at his request with surprise, but he withdrew his own cellphone from underneath the counter and swiped his way through it.
"Are you speaking to me?" Law then asked Robin with confusion, hearing Sanji's voice rise and fade with a separate conversation.
Shachi looked over at Law. "Ah, I get it," Shachi then said with a laugh. "You're doing that talking to ghosts thing…."
Robin wore a perplexed expression. "What odd timing. Well, let me introduce you to someone. This is Luffy. Luffy, please say 'hi' to Trafalgar Law."
"Hi," Luffy said listlessly, Law attuning himself to that young voice before seeing the teenager materialize slowly next to Robin. The color of his gleam caught his eye, and Luffy startled at the sight of the man making eye contact with him. "Hi!"
"Where'd you find this kid?" Law asked Robin with bewilderment.
"I'm 17, hello? Practically a man!"
Law glared at him. "Your voice gives me a headache."
"Are all city people this rude?" Luffy asked incredulously, looking at Sanji.
"This is a different brand of rude," Sanji told him, Law frowning at him.
"I can already tell that I don't like him," Law decided.
"Trafalgar," Robin chided, gloved hand on Luffy's shoulder, "he's a delightful little person. Very useful. Learns fast. Is an excellent doer."
"Meaning, he doesn't think before he leaps."
"We had a talk about how you treat children," Jean Bart said as Shachi returned to drinking, only hearing one part of the conversation. "We agreed that you'd be nicer."
"I'm never going to live in a city if it's expected of me to be an absolute asshole to everyone I meet," Luffy said bitterly, shaking his head.
"You just met the wrong people," Sanji told him.
"That gleam is interesting," Law decided, signaling for a refill. Sanji covered his glass with his hand, frowning at him. Law stared at him for moment, then gave a disgusted frown, agreeing with a wave of his hand in Jean Bart's direction.
"What's a 'gleam'?" Luffy asked curiously.
"Leave it alone," Sanji told Law. "This is the kid we picked up during our travels."
"I mentioned nothing of this case to you," Law then said to Robin. "How did you get wind of it?"
With a tilt of her head, Robin answered, "You've many ghosts in this bar. Some of them have loose mouths."
"I'll have to remedy that…"
"I bet if I smoked enough," Shachi interrupted brightly, "I could hear these pretend voices, too!"
"You look like someone that's strolled right off from 'That 70's Show'," Luffy commented lightly, taking in Shachi's appearance with a wince. He measured the size of his glasses with his fingers, giving a low whistle. "Are you a ghost, too?"
"He isn't," Sanji answered him. "Just Law and I can see you and Robin."
"Oh. Weird. Why?"
"Law can only speak to ghosts that approach him. I can see all of you."
Luffy covered himself with embarrassment. "Some of my stuff is private."
"That's not what I meant!"
"Oh, you mean all of us ghosts!" Luffy then laughed noisily, slapping at Shachi's back but catching sight of his hand flying right through him. He straightened up with a discomforted noise, sliding his hands into his jacket pockets. Robin cleared her throat delicately, causing Luffy to perk up.
When he slapped Shachi's back again, he made the connection – Shachi spit out his drink in surprise, whirling around in his seat to see what had happened.
"I learned a few things," Luffy said with a delighted smile. "I can touch things, now."
"You have a treasured item of his?" Law then asked Robin skeptically. "How is he here?"
"It is very simple," Robin said with an expression of amusement. "Luffy loves his siblings – but he also loves food with as much heart."
Law looked at Luffy with such an expression that Jean Bart reached out and whapped his shoulder to scold him. Luffy frowned up at Law sullenly.
"Least I liked life," the boy muttered. "Because it looks like you don't like anything. You remind me of this old history teacher I had in elementary school, who hated everything and took it out on us…"
"Flattery gets you nowhere with me," Law warned him sternly.
Jean Bart glanced out the window, then left the counter. When he returned, he was carrying a restaurant bag that he deposited in front of Sanji, Shachi looking over with interest. Sanji exhaled heavily, looking at the bag with a tortured expression before taking a seat on the stool.
He opened the bag, revealing a cardboard tray with two double patty hamburgers and a side of chicken wings and steak fries. Law stared at him with doubt while Shachi sucked in a line of drool. Luffy pushed his way to the counter, inhaling sharply.
"Beautiful!" he exclaimed, flapping his hands about. "Wow, I bet that tastes so good!"
"Is that for us? I don't eat that," Law warned Sanji skeptically, Sanji removing his jacket and setting that aside. After a few moments of staring at the tray, Luffy whooping with excitement, Sanji sighed heavily.
"How does transferring a gleam outside of their treasured item work?" Sanji asked Law listlessly. "Do you just…touch them?"
"What are you doing?"
"Transfer him to me."
Law stared at him incredulously, looking from Luffy to him, then grew irritated. "No. You owe absolutely nothing to this child!"
Jean Bart braced himself against the counter, exhaling. "Might be a good idea, anyway," he murmured to Law. "If that thing is on the loose, an extra layer of protection on someone that is most affected could be useful."
"It's only for the meal, not for a lengthy amount of time," Sanji snapped. "Just for the meal. Remove him afterward."
"Maybe three to five hours after," Robin advised, cutting in. "Sanji is still in the recovery process."
"Three to five hours after," Sanji agreed, wearing a shameful frown. "Convince me with exercise, not laxatives."
"Wait," Shachi spoke up with surprise, "you're not naturally thin? I had a girlfriend once that ate boxes of that stuff!"
Absolutely clueless, Law wasn't sure how to process that information. Luffy was confused, unsure of what he was hearing. After some tense consideration, Law grabbed hold of Luffy's arm, the teen looking at him with a start. But it wasn't his limb he was holding onto – in a moment, that inky black maroon substance that he glowed with curled into the palm of Law's hand like a flashing orb. He held it for a moment, considering the strength of the kid's gleam while Sanji watched him pensively, tense against the counter.
Robin cleared her throat. With an irritated expression, Law pushed the orb into Sanji's chest. The thin man gave a violent shiver, but he immediately relaxed with a heave of breath right after. It was startling – in that moment, Law smelled someone else's breath.
Law poured himself a drink as Sanji removed his glasses, blinking tightly as he looked around himself. Once he spied the food, he grabbed one hamburger with both hands and began eating with absolute relish.
"Oh, fuck," he cried, his mouth full, "this is so good!"
"That's so weird," Shachi murmured as Sanji crammed most of the hamburger into his mouth, chewing noisily. "It's like I'm looking at something so wrong, here…"
"Oh God - ! So good! I haven't ate in a million years, this is awesome!"
"This is fucking disgusting," Law muttered, Sanji wiping his hands on his shorts.
"I can taste everything!" Sanji cried with joy, hands waving about. His chin and mouth were greasy and stained with sauce. "It's like I'm alive all over again!"
Law pushed away from the counter while Sanji crammed fries into his mouth, chewing sloppily. He whirled in his seat, waving some chicken wings about.
"You want some? I can share with you a piece?"
"Fuck off."
Robin tutted as Law strode into the employees' office, slamming the door behind him.
"Mooooooody," Shachi commented lightly, wearing a skeptical expression. "Everyone's moody around here. Jean Bart – weed."
"No weed. That's the orders," Jean Bart told him with a frown.
"Pigs…"
"What's his problem? Doesn't he want me to eat?" Sanji asked incredulously, cramming one wing into his mouth, chewing and sucking until all he pulled out was a stained bone. He wore a look of pleasure; despite speaking with Sanji's voice, his expression wasn't Sanji's.
: :
Law sat down with a heavy exhale in the chair near the wall. The office was heavily silent, still with too much AC and cramped with material items. His anger was confused. Robin already stood there without making a sound, waiting for him to notice her.
"How productive is this show of anger?" she asked curiously. "Will it change anything?"
"…No," Law answered tightly. He avoided looking at her. "But going that far for a stupid, useless ghost - ! For someone he doesn't even know - !"
Robin understood then why Law was angry. It wasn't something she could help. "He's not useless. He has a very strong gleam," Robin said lightly.
"I don't understand his issues with food," Law started off slowly, speaking of Sanji, "but forcing himself to eat something that he doesn't normally eat – "
"Do not vent about it to me. He's the one that should hear it from you," Robin said with firm warning.
Law exhaled heavily, glaring off at the computers at the desk.
Robin nodded. "Well then. Would you like to hear more of the information I found?"
"…Sure."
"Gin was a very evil man. None of his victims have anything to match an MO, other than he chose them to kill them senselessly. Men, women, children – it didn't matter. It was only killing, nothing more. He dismembered bodies and left them where they could be found. He started off with killing farm animals, then prostitutes, then outlaws, common men – I don't understand why he has to be brought back, now."
"It's just a job. He must have a gleam for how often he's seen..."
"You cannot use that gleam, Trafalgar. I forbid it."
"I'd like to remove it, actually. I am not the only one out there that knows how to use gleams," Law clarified. "Anyone can get the wrong idea if they don't have the experience attached to it."
Robin gave a faint smile. She suspected the man's motives; despite his cantankerous attitude and actions, Law's reasoning for capturing certain gleams were telling. "Have you noticed that other people can do what you can?"
"I haven't met anyone else, but…I learned it from somewhere. From someone. I'm sure there are others that can take these things and misappropriate them."
"You remember your first time?"
"Unfortunately."
When he didn't offer the story, Robin decided to move on. "That dog of his was present during his killings. More than likely, it'll guide him to you to help his master. To contain the man, you'll have to contain the animal."
"Or kill it."
"But that didn't work now, did it? I've heard word of an angry animal roaming the streets, terrorizing the ghosts," Robin said lightly. "I know your kind has encountered vengeful, angry spirits that can wreak havoc on the living, and I have fair confidence in your exorcising skills. But it always helps to be prepared."
Law then stilled. "Perhaps he doesn't have to arrive…maybe he already has. Using his animal…"
"I will be leaving, soon," Robin then added, fiddling with some paperwork left behind on the desk, causing pages to rustle noisily. "I've developed an unhealthy attachment, and find it prudent to therefore move along before I start remembering more of unnecessary emotions."
Law looked at her with a start. "Why is that wrong?"
"I've thrived for years, Law," she said. "Any more information than that is unnecessary to share."
Law nodded to show that he acknowledged this. "Well…you'll be missed."
"What about you?"
"…What about me?"
"What will you do, now? Now that it's brought to your attention how painful it is to continue living long after your beloved has died, have you decided to continue living or will you continue to live a lie under the impression of someone else?"
He gave a limp shrug in response. It wasn't the answer Robin was looking for, but it gave her pivotal commitment to her resolve. She was too attached.
Robin examined the walls with posters, the stolen street signs that his crew had inserted. "As a woman, my feelings are…conflicted. I want to side with the one I trust, and yet I want to lend a sympathetic ear to one I've started to care for. These things…will allow me to perish if I continue to remember just how painful they are. That's how you've survived, right? Locked down your feelings so that they can't hurt."
Law said nothing. He recognized that she was baiting him, and he didn't want to give. Robin tipped her head, hat bowing with the movement. "Be nice to the kid. He'll come in handy."
Law sighed noisily.
She gave him a firm look. Her absence was then noted in the silence lingering after. Law leaned back in his chair, glaring at the ceiling. He was there for some time until the door opened, and Sanji peeked in cautiously. He licked his fingers messily; wearing an expression that wasn't ever his to have. It made Law's skin curdle.
"Is something wrong?" Sanji asked. His voice had changed – it was lighter, a higher pitch to take on that of a younger male. Even his eyes were rounded, facial muscles held at a more relaxed state. Once his fingers were clean, he started wiping his face with the sleeve of his sweater.
Law remembered when Sanji had stolen off with Eustess – he knew it right away. The man's entire body language had changed, as well as the set of his mouth, the rigidity in his jaw. So seeing the ghost of the teen in Sanji's form – taking over with a more confident stance with bigger eyes, a careless smile – allowed Law to see a whole new person.
Law looked at him with disgust. "Go wash your hands in the bathroom."
"We're friends, right?"
"Friends," Law repeated, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. Then he stilled, looking at Sanji once more to see what Luffy would latch onto. What things did Sanji worry about when he wasn't showing them? Would Luffy be influenced by them? The thought of being touched or spoken to by that kid made him shiver with disgust.
"Because I feel like you're my moody friend, and I need to be nicer to you, because you're traumatized. Take things slow and easy, so I don't scare you off," Sanji said, letting himself in. He gaped at the office equipment with some excitement while Law wondered what he meant by that. "Wow, what is this place? Some special crime lab, or something?"
"It's none of your business."
"You're always so mean. I mean…you're rude. All you city people are so rude. Hey," Sanji then said, seating himself in one of the rolling chairs, twisting around in one quick motion before facing him. "so, if you guys are ghost hunters, can you find this ghost?"
"What do you know about him?"
"Robin told me about him. I think I'm going to be okay, Law," Sanji assured him. "I was pretty strong, and – "
"Not if you're dead."
"Besides that," Sanji scoffed, waving a hand at him. "I think anybody would've been dead by what made me dead, anyway. I wasn't wearing my seat belt. So, about this ghost guy…how strong is he?"
"I haven't met him yet."
"I've always had this interest in meeting new people, and this is a super creative way to do it! Add in the fact that we're a regular mystery gang - !"
"We're not a gang!"
Sanji combed through his loose hair with sticky fingers, causing an unflattering mess of frizzy curls. He then stilled, wincing with a hand to his stomach. "Oh, man…wow. In one end, out the other!"
"For fuck's sake…!"
Sanji darted off, yelping about an emergency. In the silence left behind, Law shook his head, then stood up from the chair to look for a lock box.
